Local attorney hopes to prevail in 6th District Court of
Appeal
Morgan Hill – Local attorney Bruce Tichinin has filed an appeal in his court battle to hold the city of Morgan Hill accountable for allegedly damaging his reputation. Elected officials publicly denounced him in 2004 for arranging secret videotape surveillance of City Manager Ed Tewes at a conference in southern California.
A judge struck down Tichinin’s lawsuit against the city in November, ruling the Morgan Hill City Council didn’t do anything wrong in publicly expressing a negative opinion of Tichinin’s actions.
Tichinin said he is confident he will prevail in the 6th District Court of Appeal, where he expects the case to be heard by a panel of three judges in four or five month’s time.
“I believe the law is clearly in my favor,” said Tichinin, who is being represented by attorney Steven Fink. “I want to establish that citizens have a right to keep an eye on government, and they cannot be retaliated against … for having exercised their First Amendment rights.”
Tichinin claims the city unlawfully retaliated against him after city officials learned he had hired a private investigator to follow Tewes to prove a rumored affair with former City Attorney Helene Leichter. Tichinin said the alleged affair – which Tewes and Leichter have repeatedly denied – may have affected pending litigation for one of Tichinin’s clients, developer Howard Vierra.
The question before the court was whether the city’s constitutional right to free speech was protected. In November, Superior Court Judge William J. Elfying said it was, finding there was no legitimate connection between Tichinin’s surveillance activities and his casework.
Morgan Hill City Councilman Greg Sellers, who was a member of the council when it openly criticized Tichinin, said he was “disappointed but not surprised” when he learned of Tichinin’s appeal.
“The city will no doubt continue to vigorously defend itself,” Sellers said.
Tichinin claims he’s suffered emotionally and has lost income because of the city’s criticism of this ethical standards, which were reported in the media. He added the case is “at the cutting edge of the law,” regarding what the government can freely say about individuals without causing undue harm to their reputations or livelihoods.Â
But Sellers said local governments’ First Amendment rights to free speech should not be muzzled when it comes to weighing in on ballot measures or ethical standards.
Regarding the criticism of Tichinin, Sellers said the council was reacting to what it felt was unethical behavior by Tichinin to hire a private investigator to follow a city official after trumped up rumors of a love affair.
As part of the fallout from the tangled case, Leichter resigned in 2005 after the city agreed to pay her $230,000 in a settlement.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tb*******@*************es.com.
